Improvement in saddles



UNITED v`STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IACOB D. IVOODRUFF, OF BROOKLYN, NEIV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO "THOMAS B. PEOK AND JOHN B. PEOK, OF SAME PLAGE.

IMPROVEM ENT IN SADDLES.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB D. WOODRUFF, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented an Improve= ment in Saddles, the construction and operation of which I have described in the following specification and illustrated in its accom panying drawings with sufficient clearness to enable competent and skillful workmen in the arts to which it pertains or is most nearly allied to make and use my invention.

My said invention is designed to obviate a difficulty in the common saddle, which is found more especially in cavalry practice, but which nevertheless applies to the use of the saddle for other purposes-namely, its liability to injure the genital organs if the rider is thrown suddenly forward in his seat. It has been found thatin the military service raw recruits who have been suddenly called into the saddle have experienced much difficulty from this source, and even older soldiers are not entirely free from it. The exceedingly rough motion which is involved in the drill and service of the cavalry in the regular army is very severe upon every part of the person which is at all exposed, and when the tenderness of the parts above mentioned is considered and the'liabilit-y of these parts to be thrown violently upon the pominel of the saddle is appreciated, the wonder is, not that many are thus injured, but that so few are disabled. There are several saddles so constructed as to aid the horseman in retaining' his seat by being built up in front and behind, but none, so far as I am informed, which possess any adequate provision for preventing the rider from being thrown forward and injured, as above described, the nearest approach to my improvement being found in the saddle of Baron De Kalb, now on exhibition at the Patent Office, on which small side stops placed at rightangles to t-he barrel of the horse are employed for that purpose. These stops are, however, defective in several particulars, among which may be mentioned their want of sufficient size, their improper location upon the saddle, and their want of proper arrangement to fit the conformation of the rider to retain him in his seat against being thrown forward, and to assist him in resisting a side lurch, which may be given him by a lateral movement of the animal.

M y said invention consists in the arrangement of stops in an angular position upon the side of the saddle in such a manner as to gather over the leg oi' the rider and aid him in keeping down upon his seat in resistance to either a sudden lateral movement of the horse or an abrupt check of the career of the animal having a tendency to throw the rider forward, said stops being for this purpose inclined so as to bring their lower ends or edges considerably farther forward than the top, and so placed upon the saddle as to make them fully available for the purpose above stated, as hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an elevation, partly in perspective, of a saddle with my improvement attached. Fig. 2 is a front View, the lower portion of the saddle being broken away to avoid unnecessary repetition of those parts which are already well known. Fig. 3 is a plan of the framework with my. improvement attached. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the same parts.

XVith the exception of the simple device which I attach, for the purpose before stated, the saddle is constructed like any other common riding-saddle.

1 is the ordinary wooden frame commonly used in the construction of riding-saddles.

2 is the saddle-tree constructed in the usual manner, only that it should properly be brought downv as low as safety to the back of the horse will permit.

3 is the iron to which the crupper is attached, and l is the iron attached to the saddle-frame for hanging the stirrup.

S is the seat of the saddle. Nearly at the forward end of this seat and upon each side of the pommel I attach the pieces or stops which are secured to the frame of the saddle by the irons (5 and 7, as shown in Fig. 4. These stops 5 are inclined so as to fit the inclination of the legs as the rider is properly seated upon the saddle, and while so arranged as to give the best possible support against being thrown forward, are yet placed sufficiently far apart to prevent the genital organs from coming in contact with them under any ordinary circumstances. The stops 5 are cushioned and thus made easy to the person in case of contact. They also furnish a stron g preventive against the rider being unseated by a side lurch, as the leg being,` brought partly under the stop will keep the rider from being rolled out of his seat. These stops also furnish a very available support for the holsters of a military saddle and secure them certainty of position.

Having thus fully described my said invention, I claim- The arrangement, as described, and at a suitable angle of inclination to overhang and support the leg of the rider equally along their surface from top to bottom, of the stops 5 upon a riding-saddle, substantially as described, and in such a manner as to secure the advantages herein set forth.

` JACOB D. WOODRUFF. Witnessesz N. C. LAWSON, JARED V. PECK. 

